Relax, it's Columbus

Columbus once again falls near the middle of the pack in a city ranking, this one on
AtlanticCities.com, a spinoff of
Atlantic Monthly magazine.

The story, by demographer Richard Florida, attempts to measure the peacefulness of 61 major U.S.
cities. Columbus ties with Richmond, Va., at #23.

The rankings are based on a metropolitan area's homicide rate, violent crime rate, incarceration
rate, and police presence. Topping the list, as the nation's most peaceful metropolitan area, is
Cambridge, Mass., the home of Harvard University. At the bottom is Detroit.

Detroit is atypical, however. Generally speaking, the nation's safest cities are northern ones
while the most dangerous ones are in the South. (Cincinnati landed at #19 and Cleveland at
#28.)

Commenters took aim at some of the article's methodology, but the
website overall is well worth a
visit for those interested in urban affairs.